History of Heironeous/Chapter 3
'' Heironeous raises an army - The fifty and five are chosen - The dragon attacks them, but Heironeous is unaffected and cripples the beast' #And so it came to pass that Heironeous and Salan, son of Roka, rallied to their cause the mighty men of the city, arming them with swords and with bows, and giving unto them armour that they might resist the fierce blows and fiery breath of the dragon. #Fifty and five were the number of the mighty men of valour that came to Heironeous' banner, swearing to him their allegiance and their lives. And these fifty and five were named the captains of Heironeous. #And Heironeous and his captains rode from the city unto the lair of the dragon, for it was waiting to see the response of the people of Elshamroth. #For behold, this dragon was cunning and wily, and was prepared lest the city send forth its strength to do battle against it, and it came to pass that the dragon approached the army by cunning. #But the wisdom of Heironeous was greater than the cunning of the dragon, and he placed scouts round about his army, warded by magics to be invisible to the dragon, who saw them not. #And the scouts warned Heironeous of the plan of the dragon, and Heironeous placed his army in a strong place, where they would have the advantage over the dragon. #And when the dragon saw that the army of Heironeous was prepared for it, the dragon waxed wroth, and so great was the wrath of the dragon that it attacked the army of Heironeous. #For the dragon said in its heart, I will not fear this man and his army, yea, even his fifty and five, for have I not slain thousands, yea and tens of thousands? Then what is this man and his fifty and five? #And so it came to pass that the dragon fell upon the army in its strong place, and the fear of its presence struck at the heart of the fifty and five, but Heironeous was not afeared. #And seeing that Heironeous was not afeard, though the wrath of the dragon was terrible to behold, the fifty and five didst stand strong, and did hurl their defiance at the dragon, waving their weapons and preparing themselves for battle. #And the dragon didst fly over the fifty and five, and the beat of its wings was as the winds of the mountains, and the stench of the dragon was enough to turn the stomachs of the fifty and five, but Heironeous was not sickened. #And when the fifty and five saw that Heironeous was not sickened, they took heart, and those that were armed with bows and arrows shot their arrows at the dragon, that they might pierce its heart. #But the armour of the dragon was great with years and thick with age, and it turned the arrows of the army of Heironeous, that it was not harmed, but waxed more wroth than it had before, and the dragon hovered before the army, that they might not strike it with their swords. #And with a mighty breath, the dragon breathed out lightning, as the lightning of a summer thunderstorm, and the lightning did fly towards the army of Heironeous swifter than an arrow and straighter than the blade of a sword. #But Heironeous stepped forward, and reached out his hand, and caught the lightning bolt, that it did not harm his army, who were spared. #And great was the astonishment of the army, and also the astonishment of the dragon, for Heironeous was not destroyed by the lightning, but it did writhe in his hand like a living beast, for they knew not that Heironeous was a god, and protected by his divinity, and that lightning was the gift of Heironeous. #And Heironeous cast the lightning bolt at the dragon, which could not resist the force of the blow, and the dragon screamed as its own lightning didst sear its flesh, which lightning had not harmed even a hair on the head of Heironeous, because he was valiant. And the dragon didst crash to the ground because of the force of the lightning of Heironeous. #And because of the preparations of his army, when the dragon landed they didst cast their nets, and did trap the dragon, that it could not fly away, and the army of Heironeous lay upon the dragon with their weapons, until the dragon was sorely wounded. Category:History of Heironeous